Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,33

would come that night. Perhaps that was part of the reason why he’d done it. To distract me from my nerves.

So, I stayed, rigid and still, on top of the pyroki as Arokan guided it towards the front of the camp.

That glow that I’d noticed early became more and more pronounced and when the pyroki rounded a tent, riding onto the main alley of the narrow road, I realized what that glow was.

My breath hitched, startled, when I saw all the Dakkari, all members of Arokan’s horde, lining the makeshift road of the camp. Females, males, children, all holding glowing, parchment-thin lanterns with something bundled inside it that I couldn’t make out.

All roads of the camp, the same route that Arokan had taken when he’d presented me, were filled with Dakkari.

The warm glow reflected in their dark eyes as his pyroki led us through. It was completely silent and the only sounds were the gentle breeze whistling through the tents and the crunch of the pyroki’s hooves on the dirt.

It was beautiful. Surprisingly peaceful and dizzyingly beautiful.

The Dakkari reached out with their free hand as we passed, pressing them over the pyroki’s side and over both our legs, just like that first night. Hundreds of hands brushed my flesh but I continued to look around at all the surrounding Dakkari, into their eyes, searching for something.

They would only meet my eyes for a brief moment before they looked away, but I realized that they did the same for Arokan. It wasn’t discomfort that had them unable to hold my eyes, I realized.

It was…respect.

We rode through every possible road that connected the camp together until we reached the end. It was there I saw a celebration area had been erected. A raised dais with one golden throne stood off to the right, underneath the starry sky, against the backdrop of the silent landscape of Dakkar. Before that dais were rows and rows of tables filled with food and a cleared area for dancing, I assumed.

Arokan halted the pyroki when we reached that area and turned to face his horde. With his hand still pressed to my very core, with all of their eyes still on us, Arokan bellowed out words in his language, which reverberated in my ear. Whatever he said was short. I heard kassikari and Morakkari, but the other words were alien to me, frustratingly so.

When he was done, the Dakkari cheered in their strange way, like war cries, rolling their tongues, the sound rising into the quiet night, as jarring as it was mesmerizing. Then, all at once, they released their lanterns and they rose into the black sky, lit by little flames that would flicker out long before they touched the earth.

My lips parted, watching the subtle glow within each of them shine through the thin, colorful lanterns. More than a hundred rose, some faster than others, until it seemed like the sky was peppered with a hundred new stars.

I’d never seen anything more beautiful. It was so beautiful that it made me forget what was to come that night.

Soon, the breeze picked up and the lanterns scattered and drifted away, still high in the sky. In the back of my mind, I wondered if one would carry all the way to my village, if my brother would see it.

Suddenly, drums started up and excited cries came from the Dakkari, who all started towards the celebration area.

Arokan’s hand suddenly left between my thighs as he dismounted his pyroki. I swung my leg over and he reached up to snag my waist, effortlessly helping me down. Then he kept that grip on my waist as he led me towards the raised dais, towards the throne.

There was only one seat and Arokan dropped down into it. Just when I began to suspect that I was meant to stand, he tugged me down onto his lap.

My breath hitched when my skirt rose and I wiggled to pull it down. Only his surprised groan made me freeze and I swallowed, my eyes flashing up to his.

“Continue, kalles,” he rasped in my ear, “if you wish for me to end this feast early.”

My cheeks flushed at his meaning as I straightened, feeling the fur cloth covering him settle against the backs of my thighs.

When I didn’t move an inch after that, he murmured, “You will eat tonight. No broth. Meat.”

My jaw clenched as I eyed the long tables of food, as I watched Dakkari gather around them and pick bite-sized morsels off